BigBots: Golan Levin
Double-Taker
This large outdoor interactive robot deals in a whimsical manner with the themes of human eye contact, gestural choreography, subjecthood, and autonomous surveillance. Double-Taker consists of a seven-foot-long repurposed industrial robot arm, covered in a flexible reinforced-fabric cylinder. This animated arm, which resembles an inchworm or elephant's trunk, is controlled by a real-time vision-based computer system. Double-Taker will orient itself towards passers-by, tracking them and appearing to follow their movements. The unique goal of this sculpture is to perform convincing "double-takes" at its visitors, in which it appears to be continually surprised by the presence and activities of its observers.
Golan Levin
Golan Levin is an artist/engineer interested in the exploration of new modes of reactive expression. His work focuses on formal languages of interactivity and on nonverbal communications protocols in cybernetic systems. Through performances, digital artifacts, and virtual environments, Levin applies creative twists to digital technologies that highlight our relationship with machines, make visible our ways of interacting with each other, and explore the intersection of abstract communication and interactivity. Levin is Associate Professor of Electronic Art at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
Location: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Helpful Hints: Opening July 18th, this BigBot is located on the roof near the entrance to the PCA.
